14,000 Deaths from Traffic Accidents in 10 Months

The Iran newspaper, close to the government, has evaluated the statements made by Hassan Rouhani, the President, on Sunday as a sign of the "decisive will of the government and the nation" for the implementation of "JCPOA 2" and "building Iran." Mohammad Noori, the editor-in-chief of Iran newspaper, wrote in a note titled "The Central Message of the Elections from Rouhani's Perspective" that in the President's view of the events of March 7, a triangular geometry forms in which the majority of Iranian citizens seek the high value of "calm, understanding, and development." These three concepts are considered interconnected links in a chain of transformation. The newspaper recalls the "difficult times of struggles over nuclear negotiations" and also the disqualification of "many prominent figures supporting the discourse of moderation" in the President's remarks, stating that despite this, in the tone and speech of Hassan Rouhani on Sunday, "there was no sign of complaint about the indifference and irregularities of the opposition, nor an appropriation of the election results as a defeat and decline of the opposition camp," and his only request from political factions and groups was to "listen to the voice rising from the ballot boxes." The Etemad newspaper dedicated its front page to the press conference of the President on March 16 with the headline "Forbidden Words," stating that "some forbidden words can also find their way to the television frame, provided that the President holds a press conference and Jam-e Jam has the duty to broadcast it live. Like some of the remarks made by Hassan Rouhani on Sunday; from electoral allusions to explicit statements about the media ban on Seyyed Mohammad Khatami," while the President "made no effort to hide his satisfaction with what had happened on March 7 in front of dozens of journalists and millions of television viewers." The peak of the President's remarks on Sunday was the topic of "the media ban on Seyyed Mohammad Khatami," where Hassan Rouhani, as a longtime member of the Supreme National Security Council, seriously emphasized that "there is no resolution regarding the media ban on Mr. Khatami, the President of the seventh and eighth governments," and the conclusion of the peak of the President's press conference was that; "these remarks resemble jokes more than reality." The Kayhan newspaper reacted to Hassan Rouhani's statements, writing: "Mr. President, while calling the law limiting the leaders of the sedition a joke, there are clear and written resolutions regarding this matter, the last resolution numbered 576, which has not been revoked by any authority so far." This newspaper pointed out that "the Supreme National Security Council, when Mr. Rouhani was in charge of its secretariat, approved resolution number 298, which stipulates that determining and announcing news lines is the responsibility of the secretariat of the Supreme Council, and some time later, during his tenure as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, this issue was raised again in the council and through resolution number 645, the mentioned authority remained with the secretariat." It wrote that after the events of 2009 and "also the events of February 2011, the secretariat of the Supreme National Security Council, through resolution number 567, imposed minimal restrictions on some leaders of the sedition and agents of street riots." Kayhan did not refer to the content of this resolution of the Supreme National Security Council but wrote: "This resolution has not been annulled by any authority or revoked by the council itself," and now "the esteemed President should be asked regarding the three resolutions whose numbers are explained above, and on what basis does he consider the legal resolutions of a high authority to be contrary to the law and a joke!?" In addition, three newspapers, Kayhan, Vatan-e-Emruz, and Javan, dedicated their front pages to part of Hassan Rouhani's remarks on Sunday, where the President emphasized that the media should ask Mohammad Javad Zarif and Abbas Araghchi about the implementation of the JCPOA, not Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. The Shargh newspaper simultaneously reported, quoting the spokesman of the judiciary, that "the house arrest of the reformist government president is not true," but "the prevention of his entry to that wedding (of Mir Hossein Mousavi's daughter) was based on a judicial order, and the judiciary will decide on other matters as well." The issuance of the death sentence for Babak Zanjani and two other defendants in the financial and oil corruption case of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's era has been welcomed by some newspapers supportive of the former government. The Javan newspaper, close to the Revolutionary Guards, with the headline "Sentenced to Death," wrote that Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the spokesman of the judiciary, announced in his press conference that "the court has identified the defendants as corrupt on earth and thus Babak Zanjani and his accomplices have been sentenced to death." The Vatan-e-Emruz newspaper, managed by Mehrdad Bazrpash, a supporter of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, wrote: "Babak Zanjani, the major oil debtor, based on the primary court ruling, not only must pay his debt but must also be hanged." This newspaper also referred to "Abdolqasem Salavati," the head of Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court and the judge of Babak Zanjani's case, as "one of the most reputable and experienced judges of the judicial system" and wrote that "his name is mentioned as a courageous and independent judge." Nemat Ahmad, a lawyer and legal expert, in the editorial of the Vaghaye Ettefaghieh newspaper, evaluated the issuance of the death sentence for Babak Zanjani as "correct" from the standpoint of the indictment and the cited materials according to existing laws in Iran, but wrote: "The question is, who benefits from this sentence, and whether the physical elimination of Babak Zanjani will preserve the interests of the National Oil Company and the Ministry of Oil?" The editorial writer of the Vaghaye Ettefaghieh newspaper criticized the "method of dealing with Babak Zanjani and the arrest and severing of his connections with those who possessed the money from oil sales and are abroad," emphasizing that "I believe the Babak Zanjani case is only about the claims of the Ministry of Oil, only part of his accusations compared to his other criminal acts," and he cannot be viewed solely as an oil defendant. This lawyer pointed out that the unclear aspects of Babak Zanjani's actions, including regarding "currency transfer" and "gold purchases" during the sanctions, wrote: "More importantly, who are the masterminds who created the conditions inside the country for Babak Zanjani to thrive in this foggy environment and become the corruption giant of the century? These are issues and questions that should be considered alongside this ruling." Hossein Dehdashti, a member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, also emphasized in a note in the Arman newspaper that "although the issue of Zanjani's violation as the main subject is raised, the question is who facilitated this violation and what role did the supervisory systems play in this matter?" This member of parliament stressed that "if the case is to be closed with the execution of Babak Zanjani, it is very concerning; because without any result and receiving any amount, this case will be declared closed," and wrote: "Undoubtedly, this case has other dimensions that must be clarified as soon as possible. Therefore, perhaps even more time is needed." Hossein Dehdashti recalled that Babak Zanjani's death sentence "is preliminary and there is certainly a possibility of appeal," writing: "It is simplistic to convince ourselves that the only offenders in this case are Babak Zanjani and two other defendants, and to close this case with this view," and "what is concerning is the method of dealing with this case, which must uncover the factors and backgrounds of this corruption." The Shahrvand newspaper reported, quoting Taghi Mehri, the head of the traffic police of the Law Enforcement Force, that according to statistics for the first 10 months of 1394 (2015), more than "14,000 people lost their lives in traffic accidents," of which "22 percent were pedestrians and 23 percent were motorcyclists and other vehicle passengers," while the victims "51 percent died at the scene of the accidents and 49 percent in the pre-hospital stage," and "more than 260,000 people were injured." According to this newspaper, the Minister of Health, at the 11th National Conference of the Heads and Managers of the Traffic Police of the Law Enforcement Force, stated that "every year we gather and lament why our casualty statistics are higher than those of African countries," saying: "Although we have the first scientific rank in the region and rank 16th in the world, and we are the first power in the region in defense, we cannot solve this problem, and this is regrettable." Hassan Qazizadeh Hashemi also said: "The statistics of motorcycle accidents are terrifying; but why can't we solve the motorcycle problem while we claim we can manage the world?" The Shargh newspaper reported on the possibility of "water rationing by national ID" and wrote: "After the separation of drinking water from other uses was raised, this time the issue of water rationing has become a controversial news from the Ministry of Energy." According to this newspaper, Hamidreza Janbaz, the CEO of the National Water and Wastewater Engineering Company, said on Sunday: "We have started a project with the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare to determine the amount of water consumption of each person in each subscription through national ID and national identification, and through this, we can have more accurate water supply." The Shargh newspaper simultaneously reported, quoting experts, that "the implementation of such a plan requires a strong and comprehensive database, which it seems the government is not willing to undertake at the moment." The Hemayat newspaper reported on the remarks of Sadegh Larijani, the head of the judiciary, at the "Environmental Law Conference" hosted by the Department of Environment, and quoted him as saying that the judiciary is ready to establish specialized environmental courts. Mohammad Ali Esfanani, a member of the ninth parliament, also emphasized in a note in this newspaper that overcoming environmental crises requires "inter-institutional determination."